With onset of the global pandemic of COVID-19, cybercrime has drastically escalated. Cyber criminals have developed a “coronavirus map” which is a malware used to steal confidential data of person who download the same and access it, including their banking information, email account details and passwords.

The Maharashtra Cyber Police have been taking preventive measures to warn citizens regarding the same. Such malware links have also been reported to be circulated on WhatsApp whereby once the recipient clicks on the “link”, a malware is downloaded onto their device, which then proceeds to steal all personal data on such devices.

In the above instance of hacking through use of malware, the criminals  are not known to the victims which makes legal recourse difficult.